This group just continues to impress the hell out of me. The resiliency they constantly have shown is unreal. A dominating performance on the road against the best team in hockey to get the series even. Mike Babcock is the Jack Adams winner -- nobody has done a better coaching job between the injuries, offseason losses and incorporating a ton of youth all at once.

I don't know the Red Wings will win this series, but I have no doubts they will compete and give the Blackhawks everything they can handle. The Joe is going to be nuts on Monday!

[quote name="Playmaker" post="2406686" timestamp="1368902201"]Smith is a rookie who is going to make mistakes. Pucks will get past you at the point. If Cleary does his job, it's a good scoring chance, and nothing more. He's a seasoned playoff veteran and shouldn't be making plays like this. Cleary isn't the scapegoat. He's getting well deserved criticism for his extremely poor play.[/quote

What you call "well-deserved criticism" is what I'd call obsessive overkill. He is not playing well. But Cleary commentary has gone from well-chosen, logical and timely remarks to a kind of pubescent, smart-ass, sarcastic let's-all-dump-on-him-because-it's-the-current-thing-to-do thing. Kind of like mindless, absentee bullying. What I find interesting about my own reaction is that whether it's my business or not; and even though I don't have any control over it, I feel embarrassed and sad for those of you who are persisting, even when he plays ok. It's just a guess here. A stab in the dark? But I'm thinking the point has been made that Daniel Cleary is not playing well.

"He even ate with women who at that time were accorded the same status as the family donkey. Are we willing to break bread with, say, child sex slaves, transgender teens and undocumented workers? Because when Jesus comes back to Earth, that's where he'll be hanging."
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.

Big giant huge win today. I was at work so couldn't watch. But we did what needed to be done. I thought we would get 1 in Chitown. Glad to be right on that. Now how do the b hawks react and can we sustain? Hope we do.

Had a huge gig today playing bass with my band at a wine festival, so I'm glad to hear the boys kicked ass in the rink like we did on stage. Looking forward to Game 3. I'm going to enjoy watching the DVR of the game later.

OH NOES! Another Chicago Tribune writer needs his bottle and a nap. The headline?

Wings play extra tough with Toews

Awwwwww, they're playing hockey against us. That's not fair. We're the #1 seed and we've spent months calling this team invincible. We should get every call in every game. It worked for Jordan. HEY LEAGUE, stop letting them check our players. The writer gives Toews a chance to fill his diaper:

"It's just tough to understand sometimes why we get roughing penalties and hooking penalties, whatever it is, and it doesn't go both ways," Toews said. "If that's the way it's going to be, well, we need to understand that and play more physical and be tougher on them. We'll know that going into the next one.

OH NOES! Another Chicago Tribune writer needs his bottle and a nap. The headline?

Wings play extra tough with Toews

Awwwwww, they're playing hockey against us. That's not fair. We're the #1 seed and we've spent months calling this team invincible. We should get every call in every game. It worked for Jordan. HEY LEAGUE, stop letting them check our players. The writer gives Toews a chance to fill his diaper:

"It's just tough to understand sometimes why we get roughing penalties and hooking penalties, whatever it is, and it doesn't go both ways," Toews said. "If that's the way it's going to be, well, we need to understand that and play more physical and be tougher on them. We'll know that going into the next one.

Hrm, they need to get rougher than cross-checking to the head and flying elbows on defenseless already checked (and boarded) red wings?

I hope they goon it up at the Joe and Shanahanigans ensue. Shanahan will have to recuse himself because of his fear of being called a homer, and some lackey of his will have to hand out suspensions to the Hawks.

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There was one play where Hank knocked Tayz down from behind, and kinda crosschecked him in the head on his way down, then pushed him down when he tried to get up, then pushed him down again.

The zebras were very much on our side this afternoon.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Sure they did. I mean, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying we didn't flat-out own this game. We did. And it was Glorious. But we definitely had a little "help."

Unrelated note:

"They kind of used our own style against us as far as holding onto the puck and keeping it away from us," Kane said.

It's called puck-possession, Patrick, and you damn well now you learned it from us.

Not that he doesn't know that. But, well, point is: he's a ****** bag.

EDIT:

Oh, come on, guys...

whining to the refs after the fact is gonna be bad for the hawks.

Who likes to be second quessed?

And Babcock wasn't all over that lineseman re: that icing call?

Edited by Dabura, 18 May 2013 - 09:11 PM.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

I don't remember any specific plays that were blatant penalties by the Wings that got overlooked. If you have the puck and are controlling play more, the less likely you are to commit infractions. Toews should know this on a puck possession team.

This was just one team being far better than the other. The refs influence outcomes all too often in the NHL these days, but it's silly to claim a little physical play prevented Chicago from winning. Toews doesn't care that Shaw skates around like an idiot though nearly every shift?